Capítulo 60: First Quest In Another World
Hey, Shun here!
Herb gathering is the staple first quest adventurers should take, or am I mistaken?
Oh, you're saying that newbie adventurers are just guys who needs to do miscellaneous jobs?
No way, right? Right!?
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(Gatekeeper's POV)
I am a gatekeeper. Though it feels like bragging to say so myself, I'm quite adept at my job and I can spot anyone suspicious from a mile away.
And here I see a traveler who's by his lonesome walking towards the gate I'm guarding, looking as suspicious as anyone I've ever seen. This traveler is a young man with pure white hair and crimson red colored eyes.
This kind of hair and eye color is quite rare since only the first Empress and her descendants have such features. I heard that the members of the Imperial family goes around pretending to be an adventurer so I guess he's one of them?
If he is, I guess I should try my best to act as natural as ever. Giving the members of the Imperial family any form of help is punishable by the law, after all.
Still, what's with his already full set of sturdy looking equipments? Ah, the two swords on his waist looks so powerful as well.
"Halt! What business do you have in Tsia City?" The young man obediently stopped when I told him to.
Huhu… aren't I awesome?
I bet I'm one of those lucky gatekeepers who get to serve a member of the Imperial family.
"Aaah, sorry. I'm from the countryside, so I don't really know how these kinds of things are supposed to work in a city. Do I need something to enter inside?"
Looks like he don't intend to fight his way inside or anything like that. Looks like the education of the Imperial family is really quite good. If this was a prince of some other country, he'll probably force his way in.
Anyway, time to do my job properly. I stealthily activate my lie-detecting magic tool.
Gatekeepers tend to have one of these, as they allow us to determine whether or not those we're speaking to are lying to get inside. A veteran gatekeeper such as myself knows who to be suspicious of without a tool like this.
However, thanks to how a royal visitor is supposed to visit this town in a few days time, we were told to use it on anyone without fail. I'm not one to disobey a direct order.
"…Answer the question. What business do you have in Tsia City?"
"Well, I simply came here to become an adventurer if possible. You know, to earn some money." Uh-huh… Members of the royal family aren't receiving any allowance when they're traveling incognito from what I heard.
"I see, I see… You're one of those people, huh. However, judging from your appearance, I thought you were already one."
"Nope, I just came out of the boonies so there's no way I would be one. I found out about this city by chance, so I immediately departed when the first chance to do so arose." Oh, is he raised from a rural area or something?
That too wasn't a lie. I'm beginning to think that using this was not really needed on this young man.
"Why did you come here now?"
"As I said, I came here when the first chance to leave my previous place arose. What? Is it bad to come here at this time or something? Should I leave now, then?"
Hm, once again, he hasn't lied. He doesn't know much about this city.
It's expected for most travelers to have something to hide, so it's acceptable for them to lie a few times, but this young man hasn't lied a single time.
Members of the Imperial family must be some very honest people. Much respect.
"Oh, I see. My apologies for questioning you. It's just that… y'know, we need to carefully inspect whoever enters the city."
"Really? That's perfectly understandable. Can I go inside the city now, or do I need something to do that?"
Right. I need to do the rest of my job as gatekeeper. I shift into business mode, having already decided to let his royal highness in.
He checked his wallet for a brief moment when I mentioned about the price but he still maintained a small smile while doing so. Such a calm and composed demeanour.
As expected of a member of that Imperial family.
Anyway, even though I don't think he'd lack the money to deposit 7 silver coins in here, I still mentioned that I could guide him through town if necessary. Guiding visitors through town until he acquire a form of personal identification is just another part of my job, after all.
"Do you have any form of personal identification? If not, you'll need to pay five silver coins and one copper coin."
I just noticed it now but it looks like his royal highness is just about to start his journey as an adventurer. Looks like I'm the first gatekeeper he met after starting his own journey.
This is such a great honor. I'll talk about this to my family when I get home.
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The guild had a weird, backwards process where I paid first, then got my card, then got interviewed, and then got an explanation about everything.
Is this them basically telling me, "don't even bother comin' here if you ain't got the cash, scum" or something? How rude.
Well, I got the cash so it's no biggie.
"…No, I only prioritized getting you your card so the gatekeeper could get back to work. I'll take your card back if you fail the interview, and the guild will take responsibility by kicking you out of town through any means necessary."
"Neat. It looks like you're ready for whatever ruffians may throw at you, Ms. Receptionist."
"Thank you. Also, I must inform you that your money will not be returned if the thing I mentioned earlier were to happen."
"Ehh… That's really harsh. Also, isn't that kinda stingy?"
"The interview has already started, by the way."
"Ah ha ha ha. I quite understand where you are coming from, my dear Ms. Receptionist. Ruffians who interviews deserve such harsh punishments. Totally."
"I am glad to hear that."
Whew. What's with this receptionist? Why is she so stiff? It's so not like those cute receptionist girls I often see in fantasy animes and mangas.
So, after giving my answers to several questions, I passed the test. Nevertheless, the questions were really simple, like "where were you born?" and stuff like that.
I just said "Somewhere really far away from here" to avoid stating a lie. After that, I received an explanation about the guild.
According to Ms. Receptionist, the highest rank in the guild was S, with the ranks below it ranging from A to G. Given my lack of adventuring experience, I started off as a G-Ranker.
Ranking up relied on points gained from completing quests, as well as further interviews from the guild. Not to mention tests sometimes.
Is this them saying that brainless idiots should stay as low ranks or something?
Anyway. Quests were posted on the classic bulletin board. Or you could also call it quest board.
I just had to find one marked for my rank and take it to the counter. I could also pay for one of the guild employees to read the quests out loud, but since I could read the language just fine, that didn't matter to me.
Also, the Adventurer's Guild wouldn't help adventurers at all if we committed any crimes. In fact, they might even put a bounty on our heads after they nullify our guild card.
"Alright. Thank you so much for the explanation, Ms. Receptionist. By the way, is there anything I should be cautious of while I'm here in town?"
"Hm… It would likely be best if you avoid the slums by the southern gate."
Slums, huh? Hey, I planned on going there some time later when I get enough money.
I wonder what's in that place.
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(Shun's POV)
Unfortunately, a cliché event where I met a new party member never happened. Such a shame. And I was really looking forward for it to happen.
All those adventurers from before? Yeah, they had all either left or passed out, drunk. Not like I'd want to be in a party with them.
"Alright, let's see what kind of quests they have here…" I murmured as I looked at the bulletin board.
I was mainly interested in any quests about dungeons or our [Ordinary Cave]. Oh, here's one.
✽✽[Quest]✽✽
Type: Investigation
Description:
Investigate the [Ordinary Cave] dungeon.
Reward(s): One silver coin.
Rank: F or above.
Requirement(s): A party of two or more people.
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"Wait, F-Rank or above? Also, it requires me to have a party member to do this?"
What about the other quests regarding dungeons? God, they all require me to be F-rank or higher.
Heck, there are even dungeons where you are only allowed to enter if you're C-rank or above.
Hmm, look like I can't take this quest as a G-Rank. I need to boost my rank up first then look for a comrade. This might take some time… But I'm in for it!
"Alright, let's see if there are any G-Rank quests here I could take."
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※~To be continued~※
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Author's Remarks:
※ Alrighty, another chapter, down. Quests, quests, let's see what I can do. By the way, do drop some reviews or comment about what you think about this story. I read comments everyday even though I might have been busy these past few days.
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